Two cameras, two lens-mounts, separated by almost six decades. The new Nikon Z7 (left) is the first of a brand-new breed of Z-mount full-frame Nikon cameras, just as the original Nikon F (right) debuted the legendary F mount in the late 1950s.

This interview comprises on-record portions drawn from several conversations with multiple Nikon executives dating back to August, primarily those which took place in Tokyo following the launch of the Z system, and in Cologne, Germany, during the Photokina trade show.

Please note that responses to our questions were provided variously by multiple high-level executives, engineers and marketing specialists. These exchanges happened at different times, and in all cases, our conversations were conducted via an interpreter. As such, since individual attribution is impossible, responses have been combined and anonymized. The following interview has been edited for clarity and flow.

What were the biggest challenges you faced when developing the Z mount?

For the mount, the biggest challenge was to finalize the specifications. This is a new system and we’re looking ahead into the future for our users. We want them to use the Z mount for a long time, so we wanted to make sure that the specifications would [support] use for the long-haul.

For lenses, taking the Z 35mm F1.8 for example, we were determined to exceed the [previous] performance level, which was very challenging. Manufacturing was challenging too because we wanted to exceed [previous] lens specifications and performance.

In the camera bodies, we had to maintain robustness, while making them smaller and lighter. This was a challenge for us.

The Nikon Z mount is intended to be at least as futureproof as the legacy F mount - hopefully, according to Nikon representatives - it will still be current in 100 years' time.

Nikon Z-mount lenses are designed for cameras that are capable of high resolution video as well as stills - how does this requirement affect the design?

Our optical design had to change. There are five elements that are improved significantly. One, we minimized aberrations, in a very well-balanced manner. Secondly, we improved resolution, towards the edges of the frame - not just the center. Thirdly, we improved point image performance [coma] towards the edges of the frame. Fourth, bokeh is natural, and beautiful. And finally we minimized ghosting and flare effects as much as possible. All of these improvements allow us to render sharp, very ‘real’ images.

Mechanically speaking, we improved focus speed, and focus is very quiet and very smooth in movie recording. That smoothness is really improved, and also movie users can adjust focus speed, from slow to fast.

We’ve tried to maintain the same level of operability between the D850 and the Z7

One of the concerns that we have with the Z6/7 is that their autofocus behavior and user experience is so different to DSLRs like the D850. Why did Nikon make this decision?

The D850 has a dedicated autofocus sensor, but in the Z7 we have on-sensor phase-detection autofocus. Each system has its own distinct features and its own strengths. We looked at the differences between the two, so that we could satisfy our customers’ needs by utilizing the strengths of each system. It’s not a question of which system is better, each has its own strengths.

When we think about usability of the autofocus systems, we’ve tried to maintain the same level of operability between the D850 and the Z7. Our priority is to make sure that our [Z7] customers feel that they have the same level of functionality and usability [as they do with the D850].

The Nikon Z7, pictured here with the 35mm F1.8, one of three compact lenses announced at the debut of the new Z mount, in August.

Do you intend to be more proactive in the Z-series, to respond to feature requests via firmware?

We need to look at our camera models, their features and characteristics, and our customers’ needs. With some models it’s better that we update their functionality more often than others.

But upgrading a camera isn’t easy. Also, as functionality evolves, software becomes even more complicated to design and update. However, the environment is changing rapidly, and due to the accelerated evolution of the functions, maybe we have to accelerate our response. We will make sure that we develop and upgrade [our cameras’] functionalities in order to satisfy our customers’ needs.

Our goal is to become number one in the full-frame market

Do you have an internal target for percentage of sales represented by Nikon mirrorless versus DSLR?

We have internal sales targets for each model, but we cannot disclose the figures. Our goal is to become number one in the full-frame market for both mirrorless and DSLRs.

What is your target timeframe for achieving this goal?

That’s a difficult question to answer - we cannot disclose the specific timeline, but we will make every effort to hit the target of being number one as soon as possible. We believe that we can achieve the number one position maybe quite soon. A lot of manufacturers have launched full-frame mirrorless cameras, but sales of our Z6 and Z7 are really robust, which gives us confidence.

Since DSLR and mirrorless have their own benefits and merits, they can co-exist

How do you expect the Z6 and Z7 to affect sales of Nikon’s DSLRs?

Since we launched the Z6 and Z7, demand for the D850 has remained very robust and stable. Since DSLR and mirrorless have their own benefits and merits, they can co-exist, and they will. However, its unavoidable that the market will shift more and more towards mirrorless. Right now, mirrorless market share is around 40% but by 2020 and afterwards we expect that mirrorless will surpass DSLR. For now we think they can co-exist.

At launch, the Z system is a full-frame system. Could it support DX (APS-C) format cameras in future?

We are not thinking about other formats yet. But we’re monitoring market trends, and we’re not ruling anything out [in future].

From left to right: The Nikon D850, the new Z7 and it's main competitor, the Sony a7R III.

When you were developing the Z6 and Z7, what were your key benchmarks, and measures for success?

In one word, our benchmark for the Z7 was the D850. We wanted the Z7 to be at least on the same level as the D850. We have a lot of accumulated knowledge from our DSLRs, and we gathered information from our customers to make sure that we really met their needs and their demands. For example a comfortable grip, a good viewfinder experience, and the operational feel of pressing the shutter. We have to make sure that we can match or exceed these qualities [of our DSLRs] before putting a [mirrorless] product on the market. These are the expectations that people have of Nikon as a camera maker.

In-body V.R. is a new concept in the Z6 and Z7, and we set a very strict target for the number of stops of correction. When it comes to lenses, we can’t disclose the exact numerical performance targets, but we’ve already talked about the five ways in which we aimed to improve the lenses, plus operability and user-friendliness. We actually set some very ambitious targets.

These are high-performance cameras and lenses - how long has the system been in development?

We cannot disclose the specific number of years.

How important was it to Nikon to incorporate high-quality video features in the development of the new Z-mount cameras?

An increasing number of customers are looking at stills and video and they want both of them. Therefore we focused on improving video performance, which also affected body and lens design. We wanted to make sure that the new cameras would have very good still and video qualities.

We want to be recognized as a company that provides tools for video professionals

We love feedback, because it leads to better products. We want to be recognized as a company that provides tools for video professionals. If we hear from professionals that now, finally, they can do the kinds of jobs they want to with our products, that would be great. We’ve provided a set of functions, including N-Log, and if any of them can be useful, we’re very happy about that.

We are now starting to communicate with the community of professional videographers because we have really improved the video performance of our cameras and lenses and we’re proud of that, so we want to communicate this to the community.

The Nikon 1 V3 was the last - and arguably best - of the erstwhile 1 System mirrorless camera lineup. Although the 1 System didn't last, Nikon tells us that a lot of the technologies pioneered in cameras like the V3 was utilized in the development of the full-frame Z mount.

How much technology and experience gleaned from creating the 1-system was brought into the new Z system?

That’s a hard question to answer. There’s a lot we could say, but it’s hard to put into words. The basis of the technology comes from Nikon 1. Especially the technology behind the imaging sensors. Not the [hardware] technology itself but definitely the concept and basic principles.

Of course, the the F system and the 1 system represent the basic foundation of everything that we do, but with the Z system the goal was to go beyond those predecessor products. The larger volume of data being communicated [between camera and lens] is a huge benefit, and that’s one of the biggest improvement between previous models and the new Z-series.

The F system and the 1 system represent the basic foundation of everything that we do, but with the Z system the goal was to go beyond

The concept for the development of the new series, although obviously to some extent they are based on the F and 1 systems that came before it, is to listen to those users and hear what they like and don’t like, and look into the future. People might be happy with what they have right now, but maybe those technologies won’t work in the future. We can’t be myopic about it.

It’s very important to us that our F mount customers can use their lenses with the Z mount, for example. We had to consider that.

Did any of the engineers that worked on the 1 system go on to work on the Z6 and Z7?

Yes - part of the development team from the Nikon 1 was involved in developing the Z6 and Z7.

With the next generation of Z mount cameras, is it more urgent to target professionals, or beginners?

While we are focusing on mid-to-high end models, entry-level users who have never used an interchangeable lens camera are very important to Nikon. Both entry-level and professional users are equally important to us, and we aim to expand the Z mount system lineup to appeal to a wide audience.

The iPhone X/S, and other smartphones of its ilk are small, powerful, water-resistant and take great photographs. According to the Nikon executives that we spoke to, the threat to traditional camera manufacturers from mobile devices, jam-packed with computational photography technology, is acute.

Will future Z series cameras offer optical V.R. in addition to in-body stabilization?

We intend to continue with the development of optical stabilization. If there is a benefit of the functionality, we will continue to employ [optical V.R.] as an option. For telephoto lenses, optical stabilization is very beneficial. When it comes to wide-angle zooms, in some cases it is also beneficial.

What are the biggest challenges facing Nikon in the future?

This is a hard question to answer. Because of the advent of the smartphone, the digital camera has shrunk. However, the mirrorless camera market has been revitalized, and we believe that Nikon can expand this market. Another challenge is that if computational photography technology advances rapidly, maybe smartphones will be be able to produce images that are as good as interchangeable lens cameras. If this happens, it will be a real challenge.

The number of people taking photos is growing, and the number of photos being taken is also growing

However, because of smartphones, the number of people taking photos is growing, and the number of photos being taken is also growing. So maybe we can combine hardware and imaging technologies where we can see a business opportunity to expand into camera, software applications, b to b [etc.] there are many possible opportunities for us.

So many people take photos with their smartphones because they want to post them to Instagram or Facebook, or other social networking services. However, some of these people are not really satisfied by the quality of the photos taken on their phones. This segment of people are looking for a camera which can give them better quality images, but maybe they’ve never used a dedicated camera ever in their lives. I am sure that this segment of the audience is growing and [they represent] a great opportunity.

Will we see fewer DSLRs released by Nikon in future?

Our strategy is to [market] both DSLR and mirrorless. We launched the D3500 [alongside the Z6/7] and we’re planning to launch more DSLR models in the future.

The F mount was Nikon’s premier lens mount for 60 years - how far into the future are you looking for the Z mount? Another 60 years?

At least another 60 years! I was about to say 100. Hopefully it will last indefinitely - that’s why it’s so important for us to look into the future, and why such a high volume of data communication [in the Z mount standard] is so important.

Editors' note: Barnaby Britton

This has been a big year for Nikon, and I suspect one that Nikon's engineers and executives have been eagerly awaiting for a long time - to say nothing of their customers. Nikon did a fine job of maintaining and updating the F mount for as long as it did, but the question was never if the company would replace it with a redesigned standard for mirrorless, but when.

The Z mount of course is Nikon's second mirrorless camera mount, after the 1 mount, designed around the 1" sensors used in the company's various 1-series ILCs from 2011 until the discontinuation of the lineup earlier this year. It was interesting when speaking to executives to learn that some of the technologies from Nikon's 1 System (and in fact some of the engineers that worked on it) were integral to the development of the Z mount.

The resulting mount is a very, very different standard to Nikon 1, and different again to the 60-year old F mount, despite being designed around the same sensor format. Clearly the company is looking ahead - a long way ahead, judging by the '100 years' comment in our interview - and it will be interesting to see how Nikon develops its Z-mount lens lineup in the coming months and years. Unlike Canon, Nikon publishes roadmaps, and I suspect that the Z7 and Z6's true potential (and that of their inevitable successors) will become clear once lenses like the planned 24-70mm F2.8 start to become available.

The Z7 really is intended to replicate as far as possible, the performance and durability of the D850

So what did we learn from this interview? For one thing, we learned that Nikon wants to be the number one full-frame manufacturer, and it hopes to achieve that position fairly soon. That's a lofty goal, and a bold statement, but the Z6 and Z7 are bold products. As far as Nikon's executives are concerned, the Z7 really is intended to replicate as far as possible, the performance and durability of the D850 - a very popular camera which has been backordered almost since the day it was announced.

To the company's credit, we think that the company has largely succeeded in this goal (although there are some things we'd like to see improved) and that's no small feat. It's a bit disingenuous to call the Z6/7 first-generation cameras, but they're certainly first attempts at something very new for the company, and compared to Canon's more cautious approach with the EOS R, straight out of the gate they're powerful, highly competitive ILCs. Whether there is any room for APS-C products in Nikon's future Z-mount lineup, however, is unclear.

The challenge of building a reputation as a video manufacturer is one that Nikon hasn't really been faced with tackling up to now

While Nikon has made some overtures towards videographers before now (lest we forget, the D90 was the first DSLR to shoot video and the D850 is a very capable 4K video camera) the challenge of building a reputation as a video manufacturer is one that Nikon hasn't really been faced with tackling up to now. The Z7 and (especially) the Z6 have a lot to offer these users, and it will be interesting to see how Nikon approaches the challenge of becoming a major player in this space, alongside more experienced competitors like Sony, Canon and Panasonic. It's reassuring to see that whatever challenges Nikon faces in the future, a lack of confidence doesn't seem to be one of them.

LOL. Dragged their feet for the better part of the last decade. I work in an art university. I am the last one with a Nikon and its fleet of lenses, everyone else in my faculty has gone Sony. I am holding on buying new glass, got a small Fuji (x100f) as an interim camera and will decide which way to go in the next 2-3 years. As I see it now, Sony is the superior tool, with video and photo equally good. If I need to change my lenses anyway, the choice of body will be a pragmatic decision, with little more than nostalgia to keep me from switching.More "listening to customers" like this and Nikon will be defunct in less than one more decade.

Nikon loves feedback? Nonsense. Nikon makes (mostly) great equipment, but it is no secret that they are pretty much deaf to their customers and provide ever worsening post sale customer service. Examples? Nikon software is dreadful. Gray market goods Nikon will not repair even if paid. Inconsistency on that policy and does nothing to stop gray market sales by huge Nikon retailers. Pure hypocrisy that is hostile to the customer. Ever try and determine a product's origin? Good luck. Ridiculously tight restrictions on repair parts. Screwed up repairs that take too long and parts unavailability. Now this is not to say that I have not had good experiences with Nikon as well because I have. but not recently and for all of its cost cutting over the last several years (plus ever increasing prices), customer service has taken a nosedive. Nikon is not the only one by a long shot, but it never ceases to amaze me why companies like Nikon often treat its customers like it hates them.

The same way Google copied the all-multi-touch phone OS from Apple (Android was a button-driven Blackberry/MotoQ clone prior to the iPhone's reveal) ? Beyond that, I have had computational photography apps like Cortex Cam and ProCamera on my iPhone long before people thought Google invented the term and then claimed Apple copied Google. The real innovation in CP is not from the basic idea behind exposure stacking, but rather the slicing and aligning/combining of exposures to get an artifact-free final product; both Apple and Google accomplish it differently and the only things they both copy are the different CP apps which preceded them.

Now that we got that out of the way, the problem with computational photography on large sensors is read-out time. If it's not fast enough, and so far it isn't, you get motion artifacts; no high-res mode on m4/3, crop, or fullframe can be used on subjects which aren't still without some artifacts. The latest phones are continuously taking photos as soon as their apps launch so think about how badly that would impact a mirrorless camera's battery. Camera companies are going to have to use seriously fast processors, like Apple A12 fast, before CP on large sensors becomes good enough for a wide range of general purpose photography.

Well done Nikon. Some customers complain, but that means your customers are still hooked to Nikon while Nikon maxing out value out of them. The same is for Canon EOS R, customers still hooked to Canon :-) That is why market share in ILC may change but if so it does it very very slowly, you need to hurt customers for two of three generation of camera before market share changes significantly. Beside, the Nikon Z7 and Z6 are very good cameras, just need to have more Z mount lenses rolled out.

The message is tuned to the audience: customers of Nikon and customers of competitors. The job of sales & marketing communication is to soften the acts of the rest of the company that needs money to survive. Money is made by segmentation of the market and matching of product features / price per segment. It usually never happens that a premium product is sold at the price of the base product, and customer complains don't matter. In fact, customer complain has no effect on customer buying decision, each customer is confronted to perceived economics of a set of alternative choices, when all choices are inferior to customer wants, customer has no other choice than complain and still buy. Customers of ILC weight the pros and cons of switching brands or staying with the same brand while accepting some trade-offs, marketers place the trade-off in such a way that staying with the brand is still a slightly better option than switching brands.

That these Nikon ML are good is still to see in the mid-long term, as regarding value on used market as user reception aka sales.

BTW, they are NOT good cameras considering that a large amount of customers/photographers are cut out 'cos it's possible using AF-D only in manual focus and the same will be w/ AF-S that now it's possbile using w/ FTZ adapter when new "S" lenses will be released.

And in same regards many reported that these cameras are not good as their respective reflex, so these Nikon ML could/will be good cameras @ lower lower lower price.

Nikon you didn't need feedback to know that you were up against the likes of sony etc and with hyping the way you were (wasn't there like x3 teaser 'trailers' ha ha. They are cameras, not a movie nikon, and before that a 'leaked' set of pictures etc etc, it was neverending) you'd better have something to at least match what was already in the market place; especially with a title like "Reinventing Mirrorless" that I seen you flaunt everywhere, then you release and wonder why expectations were not met? I mean really? Time to wake up. You were calling the Z7 a mirrorless D850, big mistake because it's clearly not that, another big mistake.

This interview is the usual 'weasel words' politician speak that most people on the planet totally switch off to. I think dpreview should be in general holding manufacturers' feet to the fire and asking tough questions like "Tell me the logic about the 1 card slot thing" etc.

They have a VERY short time frame to dominate the FF market. The Eos-R is already leading the sales race and its new mount will shape what brand its buyers will buy into the future.

They had one chance to stop this by making the Z6 and Z7 a clearly better camera choice at release. The Z6 and Z7 are better, but not so much more advanced to make them an OBVIOUS choice over the Eos-R to the average buyer.

They undercooked their marketing and didn't take on Canon by directly targeting habitual Canon buyers for the mirrorless mount change by both companies....

Years of ingrained Canon buying habits by consumers haven't been changed it seems.....

Releasing the high end, low volume camera first makes sense from a production stand point. It allows them to scale production gradually, and use the inital limited production capacity to produce the more expensive model that is going to be in less demand anyway.

As a photographer it's the visuals that move me. Was that the best example of a Nikon F anyone had for a photo? Or was the exposed brass on the well worn F there to show it's durability and it's still on one piece? And it was so nice to see that adorable little Nikon 1 VR mercifully laid to rest in bed of flowers. Will it go down in history with others such as the Pontiac Aztec as being least desirable?

Nikon 2016:"We will continue to watch the needs of our customers and market trends""We are willing to cater to the needs of customers by developing what is required by the market. We’re observing market trends very carefully""Yes we have plans for more lenses, if necessary after analyzing the needs of the market."

Nikon 2014:"we have to pay attention to market demand for movie features. 4K for example is something we have to study very carefully - when, and how we can provide a camera to meet demand to satisfy our customers""you can expect something in the future - maybe!""This is just my personal opinion [as Department Manager in Nikon's 1st Designing Department] - I am not speaking for Nikon. In my opinion, 4K is too much. Our current movie functionality is enough for our users.""all we can say at this moment is that we are studying that demand""we need to study this carefully"

Don't you think that this whole computational photography thing will soon be at a level where 90% of smartphone owners are happy with the image quality (even in low-light situations) and then their focus will move onto something else, e.g. how foldable the damn thing is? Sure, smartphones will improve significantly, but whatever computational tricks they use can also be used by ILCs, and with much better results. Smartphones will never reach the same quality as ILCs and there will always be a gap. The question of course is, how many ILC users will put aside their cameras in the future and start relying on their smartphones only. My prediction would be a very small ILC market with a few extremely capable and very expensive camera models from a very small number of camera brands.

“We believe that we can achieve the number one position maybe quite soon.“

BelieveCanMaybeSoon

I remember these words from Samsung some years ago. Nikon what you say does not suit well to your Japanese traditions. Respect and be happy where you are and concentrate on dedicating yourself to enlarging the business on imaging industry which has been loosing it to smart phones. Take Sony as a role model for this vision where you owe your sensors to.

Whatevs. I am happy that Nikon are ambitious about their mirrorless plans. It means they are investing significant R&D resources to bring out new great cameras and lenses, which is good for customers of Nikon and competitors alike.

Are you implying that "Being happy where you are" is a Japanese tradition? If so, that is stereotypical, colonialist-sounding nonsense. What about post-war Japanese industry suggests for a moment that the Japanese have ever been happy with just the way things are? Let me answer that for you: Nothing. The Japanese economy would not be the giant that it is today without being driven by impatience with the status quo and fierce, unrelenting ambition.

Seeing the Z7 and Nikon F bodies side by side reminds us of how huge and bloated FF DSLRs have gotten. Mirrorless technology allows 35mm FF cameras to return to a more reasonable size, without the excess bloat that FF DSLRs have.

When I pick up my Canon A1 these days it seems just too small. The lenses had no AF motors and no stabilizers at that time, so they where smaller and lighter. With the heavier glass of today, a bigger body makes sense to me.

Fair points and I've found some real Z7 lovers out there. But to me, Nikon had an Oh-Wow moment with their IBIS (similar to what Canon had when they introduced video with their 5D2), and if they had just also nailed AF and two-slots, it would have been the MILC to beat for a year or more.

Mount designed for the next 100 year ?!?The mount is already obsolete for the next big thing in photography, full image circle coverage.Smartphones will get there pretty soon making these mirroless look outdated.

Nikon has always had great engineers who can rise to any challenge. It always seemed to me that bad management and bad marketing held up Nikon's success. Perhaps they have finally learned that as an optical/imaging technology company, they have to make great compelling products year after year. They can't hold back features or innovation for the sake of product placement. They have to live on the leading, sometimes bleeding edge--matched with world class Q/A. They have to provide excellent customer service, great product support, and timely updates. They have to really listen to their customers and address their needs. They don't need to be No. 1 in sales, they need to be No. 1 with their customers. That is a recipe for success.

"In composition, a title is a word or phrase given to a text (an essay, article, chapter, report, or other work) to identify the subject, attract the reader's attention, and forecast the tone and substance of the writing to follow."

The quote was an off hand remark during an answer to a question about video. Doesn't seem like it should have ended up in the title.

Okay, like you said, I wasn't there and maybe he was referring to Nikon's overall attitude towards their customers. Next time you talk with Nikon, tell 'em I need a 75 MP sensor in their next mirrorless. :)

'We love feedback, because it leads to better products'What a lie ! Live view and video recording sucks on DSLR cameras, compared to Canon, for several generations of cameras and nothing has really changed.I suppose this is because their never got feedbacks about that ?

Yes, I understand tech and I am aware of some of the reasons why it was not easy to change. But this not an excuse. Canon got rid of a mechanical lever to actuate the diaphram since long. And the cameras are not in the same price range than a D3XXX or a D5XXX DSLR which are outperformed by the Canon DSLRs of the same category in the video field. And I am not a Canon f-a-n-b-o-y, I own one Canon and one Nikon DSLR.Note : I write f-a-n-b-o-y because it appears that now, on DPR, this term is a swear word...

About silent shutter : my Canon DSLR features an electronic first curtain in live view mode while my Nikon DSLR does not. So the my Canon is more silent, and shutter shock free, than my Nikon, As you said, every make has its strength ... ;-)

wasTF,On a DSLR camera, in live view mode, when the mirror is up, the shutter is necessarily open ! On my Canon DSLRs (both the "old" 600D and the recent 200D), in live view mode, when I press the shutter release button, the shutter remains open until the image is recorded. So there is no shutter shock at all. There is only a shutter actuation (close/open) after the shot, to end the exposure and go back to live view mode. This is how the electronic first curtain works... Instead, on my Nikon D5200, the shutter is quickly closed and reopened before the image is recorded (mechanical first curtain). This is necessary for this camera to actuate the aperture lever.

I'm pretty what he meant to say was we really saw a dramatic decrease in sales after Sony released the latest a9, a7r3, A73 and noticed there lens line up is catching up.. We also saw how many of our cameras were on the used market.. We put out these cameras to keep or current Nikon users happy.. We also did not put a second card slot so we can keep them from ditching there dslr's and kill our entire line ... We also know that there still allot of stupid people that buy our cameras purely on reputation.. Most of our pro users aren't aware how much better Sony mirrorless is but there starting to catch on.. There to busy making a living. Oh we forgot to mention how stupid we were a few years back when we put a 1inch sensor in an ilc .. Don't get me wrong, Nikon Dslr's are awesomely amazing.. D850 is insane.. They should have just made at least the z7 with 2 card slots.. I think Nikon users should be really offended at such a slap in the face and ..

Photographers are artists. We are not scientists and we work with our passion, a passion devoted to great photos and a passion devoted to our beloved Nikon. We love Nikons and the electronic evil Sony launched their toy cameras which are in no way comparable to our own Z7/Z6, and there are an endless list of faults easily found on Sony cameras, just to mention a few like poor color, poor ergonomics, poor menu, slower cards, poor lens quality, small number of lens lineup, poor build quality, poor weather sealing, heavy lenses, etc etc.

I think you should watch Tony Northrup latest video on color science... Your passion and loyalty are in for a big surprise... I'm fortunate enough not be be a fan of any brand... Your clients should come first not your loyalty to a particular brand... Oh and check DXO mark on Zeiss and Sony G glass... If you can't see that Nikon are making fools of you while Sony, Fuji, Panasonic are doing everything they can to make the best camera possible.. oh and guess what sensor is in your beloved Nikon.. Here's a hint its starts with S and ends with Y .... Sell your Nikon gear before its to late... I frequent B&H in NY and speak to the used sales reps and that was there recommendation...

Somehow these professionals, who make such bad decission regarding their photo gear purchases, are also quite successful in what they do for a living. How that is possible? Could it be that they actually buy and use gear that best suites their requirements?

Number One Full Frame Manufacturer???Bahahahaha, oh my god that's funny.:Well Nikon, you ain't gonna get number one with the Z7.If I was gonna buy a Nikon (which I won't after my D600 oil shutter issue) , I'd still prefer the D850 (fantastic camera).Den

Lol anyway, i love the D850, can't believe it's been in my hands for a year already. I was lucky to receive my unit back in early December last year. A Z series model may end up in my bag in future, like, 4 or 5 years later to accompany my D850. A mirrorless won't replace a DSLR for my case. Right now, not yet, because i wanna see how the platform will grow in the next few years.

2ct:I am nor a Canon or a Nikon shooter, but for me it looks as if the camera itself is about orders of magnitute more capable than its 2012 specced Canon rival. It's way faster in bursts, it is also able to film at a contemporary level and not just the sensor gives you one fully grown stop more ISO-Performance, IQ, SNR and DR, the IBIS gives you even more of it, handheld. What a benefit!

But they started their lens lineup wrong, imho. At least they should have given the people a 24-105, a proper 16-35 and a 70-200 beside one or two reasonable fast primes at around 50 to 85mm.

The problem is, that if somebody wants to join the FF family now, coming from DX or smartphone, he could either invest in compromises, which won't fulfill his needs or in a mount type, which in the medium term will die out anyway. If one already comes from FX mirror and brings his lenses along, fine. But if one starts with FX now, he might not want to wait for contemporary native glass, until the Z6 II is out.

Nikon needs to target #1 spot and do their best to achieve it. In an ever-shrinking ILC market, anything less would be very problematic for Nikon as they are not financially as strong as Canon or Sony. It appears that most manufacturers think FF ILC market will be safe for a while. We will have to wait and see. It is entirely possible that in a few years time a superzoom with highly advanced computational capabilities, faster sensor readout, and processing speed will satisfy most ILC users. This is unlikely to come from a traditional camera manufacturer, none of them foresaw the rise of cellphone, GoPro or drones.

The picture on top of the article says it all: in a world where every electronic thing gets smaller the Z is bigger than even the oldest F. I would like to have a FF camera a lot smaller even when it doesn't have 14 fps, FF4k60 and things like that.

A truer picture would be the Nikon Z6 next to a Nikon F with a Photomic FTn metering finder and an F-36 motor drive attached. And a Magni 100 back for Polaroid proofing. And a 250 exposure back. And cases and cases of film.

They can also make very good lenses. If they can capitalize on the new mount and make a good selection of high quality native lenses, while allowing virtually any older lenses to be adapted, they should have a strong position.

I just don’t see Nikon being a technology driven company like say Sony or even Canon. They have this image of being an old proud company that’s stubborn to their old traditions. They really need to shed this image. Even Leica has done it with their SL & TL cameras. Nikon with their Z is a start but they really needed to bring something new and outrageous to the market. Like the unique DL cameras. They need a line of cameras to showcase their technological powers that no one else can do. No f0.95 manual focus lenses for $3400 doesn’t do much for the mass.

Yes Canon isn’t pushing the industry like Sony but canon doesn’t have an image issue like Nikon. Canon wasn’t too late with it’s EOS M and even though it wasn’t too hot at first Canon stayed the course and eventually released some great lenses and bodies that are quite popular. Same with the 1” hype that was/is popular, Canon has competitive products there as well while Nikon has nothing. If history repeats itself Canon will stick to their game plan and release more EOS R bodies and lenses. Matter of fact expect Canon to release them quickly too replicating their EOS M game plan. Expect Canon to have an EOS R body to sell for $1200-$1500 by next years Christmas. Nikon can’t match Sony or Canon’s capabilities in this regard.

The last 5-6 years haven’t helped Canon with widely criticised releases like the 6DII, M50 and EOS R. Complaints from years ago still exists and more are being added to the pile.

Canon have to break this reputation. Last week I met with 7 of my colleagues who I worked with back in 2011. We all owned Canon cameras for video work back then and now only one of us has one and it’s me (but not used for video). They are all using Sony, Fuji and Panasonic. Canon had a reputation as the kings of hybrid stills/video and now they are last choice. That’s a real shame.

What a revealing interview. And DPR pieced this together from multiple sources. One has to wonder why Nikon won't even disclose how long they've been working on the camera. I suppose a question like, Does the F body you have on display still work? would go unanswered as well.

Agree, I really would like to know when Nikon started to work on these cameras, (B. Britton), don't you think this would reveal a lot about the launched quality and their thinking instead of just marketing talk- I still have the feeling that they have been pushed and not that they have planned to be the leading mirrorless company.

That would have been unique as no one has made a perfect camera ever . And even the "definition " of perfect varies amongst shooters . a landscape guy will have very different needs from a sports shooter and so on.

Well, what if you had a Camera the size of the Z7 but with 2 card slots, better continuous AF (even at 10fps), larger image buffer, MUCH longer battery life, full frame internal recording 10bit log 4k at up to 120fps, NO banding in the shadows, larger EVF with more DR and faster refresh, fully weathersealed and IBIS? Wouldnt that be close to perfect?

Landscape vs action shooter yeah, but I guess those too woul benefit from tadaaa two slots so no data will be screwed. better AF too, tho it might be corrected by firmware. My guess is, Nkon had kinda finished product, at least the plans, based on second gen Sony cameras and after A7III and RIII it was maybe late to change the stuff... Dunno...

The word "customer" was mentioned 8 times. As Barney Britton said at the top, the interviews were from multiple executives/managers. I am assuming that all of them referred to customers' needs in one way or another.

This sentence in past tense caught my attention: "... we gathered information from our customers to make sure that we really met their needs and their demands."

To me, that sounded like that they know everything there was to know. The new ML cameras bring new challenges, new customer needs and expectations. The customer needs are just beginning in this product line. The learning has just started.

I hope that this time they really listen to customers and respond with product updates faster, better than they did with DX DSLR line.

I used Nikon DSLR's as I learned photography. I never considered them as a company that was quick to respond. "Upgrading a camera isn't easy," isn't confidence inspiring when other camera manufacturers do so without complaint.

I'm skeptical of the "computational photography and smartphones are our competition" argument. Much like upgrading the functionality of a camera after it's released, expanding functionality to follow the expectations set by phones should be baked into the engineering development process before release. Rather than being proactive, companies like Nikon are either being reactive or lamenting their inability to retroactively change their approach.

A forward-thinking company would look at the iPhone or Pixel 3 and say, "We can use stabilization tech to simulate the Brenizer Method, handheld, wiping out the need for medium format." That would be cool, but I don't think Nikon would dedicate the resources to do that. Instead, they'll just keep making mirrorless DSLRs.

I don't understand what lens correction profiles in Lightroom has to do with what I wrote. Please explain why something Adobe is doing has to do with Nikon's lack of foresight and proactive engineering.

I also think you're misunderstanding what computational computing is and/or how it's entirely optional if you don't like it or want to use it. It's like touch screens: I think every digital camera should have one, but it doesn't mean everyone has to use it even if they don't want to. I think it's better to be inventive with available technology rather than make it do the same boring things over and over again.

You're also underselling mobile photography. With a little effort, it can be pretty great. I have a colleague who published an art book of photos made with their iPhone 5. You should try using your phone as your only camera for a while. You might be surprised.

With mobil photography you have nearly no control over what is beeing processed. What is sharpened or not, do you want more noise but also more sharpness or not? What gets brightened in HDR..Now Adobe takes away the choices! Its not ok. Thats what i was getting at..

Remember Canon's "on balance, our sensors are the best" statements from two years ago? Delusions of grandeur - This has to go to Canon, not Nikon, whose engineers and spokespersons are much, much less full of it than Canon's.

Nikon is in trouble, they hardly make money out of the camera division (0,8¥B last quarter) and sales are going down as well as revenue and profits on the last year. Third quarter is usually a good quarter for them but with sales going steadily down I don't belive it's going to be that good to keep up with their predicted sales and revenue

‘maybe we have to accelerate our response’ - that ‘maybe’ shows that Nikon has learned nothing. Even Sony’s firmware policy is hardly adequate as the only way it should be in 2018 is how Fuji is doing it

I am afraid that this "maybe" has only to do with the anxiety to find a new "reliable" future teller/oracle/astrologer et such not so far away from Nikon's HQ... The former told them to aim to No1...I wish I 'll be proved wrong though, but with Sony in charge of the segment, Panasonic joining the segment soon and the statistically growing probability of Canon stopping its follies their goal seams non achievable.

For the most part I agree, Nikon's heart is in the right place but I think the company is being run in a very naive way that is hard to understand in a 100 yo company. I have seen college dorm room startups that are run with more business insight than Nikon.Some of the major shortcomings were amplified by flamboyant marketing, unrealistic pricing, and overhyped specs. I think that they should have flipped the releases Z6 first and Z7 second. Instead, is a good-bad news scenario they chose to go with the bad news first.

In your interview, I thought your question about Z7 AF was a bit too soft. You've already done a full review of the Z7 and you know pros and cons. I wish you asked Nikon about inconsistent AF-C problem and I wonder if they actually read comments here at Dpreview.

Setting their goal high to be #1 in FF ML camera is good. It will be a steep climb and I can't say for sure that Nikon will be #1 in ML camera but at the same time, I don't say never. You never know.

Nikon is well aware that the Z7/Z6 do not match their DSLRs for AF performance using metrics that favor DSLRs. That's why they took pains to respond with "not better, just different strengths" which is true, but viewed against the performance of the A7III, the Z series direct competitor, that comment seems a bit deflective. Mirrorless continuous AF performance can be much closer to that of DSLRs, but it takes more chops that Nikon was able to muster this time. Perhaps version 2?

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